The Thief's Dark (Renegades Book 3)

by L P Peace

  The door to the bridge opened once more and a heavily pregnant Rhona Desares entered, carrying a little boy.

  ‘Daris, how’s it going?’ Rhona’s eyes fell on Zoe. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Deyuul, would you take Danva, please?’

  ‘My pleasure,’ The alien rose. He was wearing something. A loincloth hid his nether region from the world, and there was a hump on his back. He took the little boy, his red hair standing out against his pale skin and eyes, and left.

  ‘Makios?’ she asked, waddling towards the screen.

  ‘We have news on Endurance,’ he said.

  Rhona’s eyes turned back to Zoe; surprise lit them. ‘You’re crew?’

  ‘Lieutenant Zoe Winters.’

  Rhona’s eyes turned back to Daris and hardened. ‘What did you do?’ Her tone was accusatory. Zoe was at once happy to hear it and annoyed that she was addressing Daris in this way.

  ‘I sort of… had a falling out with the syndicate,’ Daris said.

  ‘For vrok’s sake, Daris.’ The Kathen turned and walked from the screen, then returned a moment later.

  ‘It wasn’t my fault,’ Daris held up his hands. ‘It’s a long story, but basically—’‘Daris!’

  It was all three of them who chided him, but the look of regret was aimed solely at Zoe.

  ‘Obviously, we don’t have time for that right now,’ he said. ‘I put feelers out for work, Heflik—’

  ‘The Qoni vrokker from Caras?’

  Daris nodded. ‘I didn’t ask questions. I should have. But if I had, I wouldn’t have taken the job, I wouldn’t have found my mate, and I wouldn’t be able to tell you that Tolomus is headed for Addis to sell more of his stock.’

  ‘Addis.’ Makios leaned forward and pressed some buttons.

  ‘If you’re calling Thanesh, I don’t want to be in on that call.’

  Makios stopped and looked up.

  ‘But I do want to deal with him.’

  ‘Deal?’

  ‘I have information on where Tolomus sold most of the male crew. Who he used as an auctioneer for both of the auctions I witnessed. I’m willing to hand over this information if Thanesh helps me the way he helped you.’

  The way he helped…

  ‘You used to be a criminal?’ As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Zoe cringed. ‘I’m so—’

  ‘Smuggler,’ Rhona grinned. ‘He was a smuggler, like Han Solo.’

  ‘I only know who he is because my best friend is a massive fan of those movies. Which reminds me.’ She took in a deep breath. ‘She got away, have you heard anything from her?’

  ‘From who?’ Makios looked at Rhona, then back at Zoe.

  ‘Sophia Abara. She has a copy of the data packet.’ Zoe saw the shocked look on Daris’s face. ‘She was in a fighter that had an FTL engine. She jumped away near the end of the fight.’

  ‘I had the shot. I had the shot, then Sophia jumped. I only hesitated for a second.’

  Zoe couldn’t help but wonder if things would have been different if Sophia hadn’t been ordered to jump.

  ‘We’re going to contact Thanesh,’ Makios’s face was sombre. ‘I’ll relay your information and demands and let you know what he says.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Daris said.

  ‘Daris, you can’t withhold the information you have.’ Rhona was watching him, a disappointed look on her face.

  ‘I have no intention, sweet Rhona,’ Daris said. ‘But I have to try. I can’t live like this anymore. Not when I’ve found my mate.’

  ‘No shit, Sherlock. I’ve been telling you that for five years.’ Rhona sighed. ‘Can you at least give us the information now? We’ll secure the deal for you. That way, we can get it to Thanesh right away, and they’ll be able to start the search for this Sophia.’

  ‘Of course.’ Daris spent the next few minutes telling them everything he knew. ‘The auctioneer gave Tolomus a copy of the records,’ he said, ‘and kept a copy for them.’

  ‘A Himaran female working out of the Ledaan homeworld,’ Makios said. ‘That won’t be hard to trace.’

  Tolomus had used a legitimate company with legitimate records. Zoe felt a hard, anxious knot unfold. They could get the information; they could find the crew.

  Hold on, everyone. We’re coming for you.

  ‘The slaves most at danger are the ones bought for the Caras meat market,’ Daris said. ‘They won’t keep records.’

  There was a grim look on Makios’s face. ‘We’ll get back to you as soon as we have news.’

  ‘Nice meeting you,’ Rhona said, her hands resting on her huge belly.

  Zoe smiled. ‘You too.’

  The screen went black.

  Standing, Zoe threw herself at Daris. She briefly saw a surprised but happy look on his face before she was flush against him, his arms wrapped around her. She squeezed her eyes shut against the tears of relief that threatened to pour from her.

  ‘Thank you,’ she whispered to him. ‘Thank you for being the one to find me. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for not withholding that information.’

  His arms tightened around her. ‘Of course, ahdali,’ he whispered. ‘I may not be directly involved in what happened with helping Earth make Endurance, but people I care about are very invested in it. So even before I met you, I was invested in it.’

  Zoe pulled away so that she could look at him. His face was earnest.

  ‘Now I care about it almost as much as I care about you.’

  Zoe brushed her lips against Daris’s. It was the only way she could think to respond to him. After a minute, he sat forward and gently pulled away, repositioning her on his lap.

  ‘Now, we need to talk about this deck incident.’

  ‘We really don’t.’ Zoe tried to remove herself from his lap, but his arms enclosed her tighter.

  ‘What you did,’ Daris took a deep breath as Zoe struggled, trying to remove herself from his lap, ‘was the most, stunningly beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.’

  Zoe stopped struggling. She felt her face aflame as uncertainty filled her.

  ‘Watching you touch yourself, hmmm.’ Daris shifted her until his hard length was against the rising need between her legs. She gasped when he pulled her towards him so that she rode up the length of his cock. ‘I want you to do that again.’ His voice was thicker now, huskier. ‘But you must never do that for another male ever again.’

  Zoe’s eyes snapped open. She pushed her arms against Daris’s chest to stop him from moving her. ‘You don’t get to tell me what to do,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘I don’t belong to you.’

  Daris’s eyes had cleared as she spoke. ‘You don’t belong to me, my ahdali, but you are mine and I won’t share your body with anyone else.’

  Zoe pushed off of Daris’s chest, somehow finding her feet before she fell down. ‘You don’t get to decide that!’ she yelled, walking away from him. ‘You don’t get to decide I’m yours. That’s my decision.’

  Zoe looked at the tiny space of the cabin. It was a living room-cum-bedroom-cum-kitchen. There was one door against the wall to her left, where she guessed the bathroom was. On the right wall was the spiral staircase that led to the cargo bay below.

  There was nowhere to storm off on this damned ship.

  She turned on her heel to find Daris had followed her, a hurt look on his face.

  ‘I thought you had accepted us?’ he said, stepping closer to her.

  Zoe stepped back. ‘I…’ She shook her head. ‘It’s… complicated.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’ Daris took another step forward.

  ‘Daris.’ She took a step back. ‘I’m in the military. I can’t just go off gallivanting around the galaxy with an alien. I have duties, responsibilities, a career.’

  ‘I could come to Earth with you,’ he said. Hurt was etching deeper into the lines of his face. Zoe wanted to smooth them away, but she couldn’t make him false promises. ‘It was a bad choice of words. You don’t belong to me.’ He took anot
her step towards her. ‘It would be better to say that I belong to you.’

  ‘That’s even worse,’ she sighed.

  ‘Why is that worse?’

  ‘Because you’re making me responsible for you. For your life and happiness.’

  ‘I don’t know what else to say, ahdali.’ He took a step back. As the void opened between them, the urge to close it surged inside Zoe. She forced herself to stay her feet. ‘Though I think if you weren’t ashamed of how you feel when I pleasure you, you would not be ashamed to admit you’re mine.’

  Zoe glared at him. ‘So you think because I respond to you like that,’ she felt a wave of self-disgust, ‘that you have the right to control my life?’

  ‘Ahdali—’

  ‘Stop calling me that! My name is Zoe.’

  The shout reverberated around the room. Daris went completely still. For a moment, a ghost of a sad smile touched his lips.

  ‘I am yours,’ he repeated, then swallowed. ‘I have no intention of controlling your life. Maruzen are equals in all places but the bed. My body responds to your need, or I would never have bonded to you.’

  ‘I don’t need…’ She couldn’t complete the sentence.

  ‘You don’t need to be dominated?’ he finished for her. His face hardened, became resolved. He stepped towards her. ‘You don’t need to trust someone enough to give up control?’ He took another step. ‘You don’t need to let go and allow yourself to take?’ He took another step. Zoe tried to back away but found herself rooted to the spot. ‘To give yourself up to the demands of your body? To be cared for?’ He was directly in front of her now. ‘To be pleasured over and over until every stress slips away and it is just you and I in embrace?’

  Zoe placed her hands on his chest to keep him away.

  ‘Do you not see what is happening right now, my sweet ahdali?’

  Zoe shook her head.

  ‘You are scared,’ he whispered. ‘You are panicking. You fear the things I make you feel. Do you think I don’t know how much you hate to feel like you need something? How much you hate yourself when you perceive something about you as weak? This is why you need me, Zoe.’ His lips were on her cheek now. She closed her eyes as he grazed them across her jaw. ‘So that I can show you giving into need is not weakness.’

  ‘I’m afraid,’ she admitted.

  ‘Afraid of what, ahdali?’

  ‘That if I give into you, I’ll become someone else.’

  ‘You will become someone else, ahdali,’ he whispered. ‘You’ll become who you truly are.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘People are like plants, ahdali,’ he said, drawing her into his arms. ‘When they grow with the sun in their faces, they know exactly who and what they are, they never question it. But you and I, we grew up under a wall of other people’s judgements, criticism, hatred.’ He was stroking her back now. There was nothing sexual about the touching; he was comforting her. ‘We have grown up pushing our way through that wall, unsure of what or why we are. But one rote, we’ll break through and feel the sun on our faces and know for sure that this is who we are meant to be.’ He drew back until he was looking into her eyes. ‘I want to help you break through, ahdali.’ He shook his head. ‘Does that make sense?’

  ‘It kinda does.’

  ‘I am yours,’ he said. ‘If you choose to return to Earth, I would come with you. If you choose to leave me here,’ he swallowed audibly, ‘I understand.’

  ‘Can I think about it?’

  ‘Of course,’ Daris said, drawing away from her. ‘The facilities are there.’ He pointed to the door on the left wall. ‘Feel free to take whatever time you need. I know the space is small. I will be in the pilot’s seat. Simply pretend I’m not here.’

  Zoe walked over to the bathroom, looking at him before she disappeared inside.

  Head still spinning, Daris sat down in the pilot’s seat.

  It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay.

  He continued chanting this to himself long after his mate left the facilities and settled on the bed.

  He had been so intrigued when he first met Rhona. Arabelle had lit a fire under him to meet human females, but now… now he had found his mate and… what if she didn’t want him? What if she left him?

  The thought chilled Daris to the bone.

  Zoe had been asleep for several hours. Daris had a vague idea of how long humans slept for due to the time he’d spent with Rhona and Arabelle. Zoe had been through a lot in the last few rotes; his instincts told him that she would be sleeping for a while yet.

  Except for a few lights on the board in front of him, every light on the ship was out. He sat in the dark and watched the rush of fractured stars bursting across the screen around him and thought about possible paths his life may take from this point out.

  If Zoe doesn’t want me—he couldn’t finish the thought.

  Daris had always imagined finding his mate would mean completion. That his life would take on new meaning and somehow, he would be validated. His existence would be validated. But that wasn’t what was happening; instead, he was just the same old Daris, the unwanted orphan, a burden on society. He gritted his teeth, his mind rebelling against that label. A long time ago, he had taken the decision not to let the perception of others choose his path for him or define the way he thought about himself. But right now, he just felt unwanted.

  Letting out a long breath, he decided self-pity didn’t work. He would just have to find a way to make his ahdali love him. Humans needed that, needed love. They didn’t bond the way Maruzen did, biologically and irrevocably. He saw the love Rhona had for Makios, and he saw the lengths Arabella went to while protecting the male she loved. Love was a potent driver among humans. If he could get his Zoe to love him surely, she would choose to stay. But how to get her to fall in love with him?

  The screen flashed quickly, a dull light filling the void before Daris accepted the call. He placed a finger to his lips when he saw the face of his Kathen friend.

  ‘Zoe sleeps.’

  Makios nodded his understanding.

  ‘Thanesh has agreed to your terms,’ he said, his voice barely above a whisper. ‘We have spies on Addis. They’re heading to the auction. Thanesh is sending in a strike team to extract them.’

  ‘Good. That will please Zoe.’

  ‘How is she doing?’ Makios looked beyond Daris to the small human form lying motionless in the bed. An ugly, possessive instinct rose in Daris, and he barely stopped himself from growling at his friend.

  ‘Tired.’ Some of the growl slipped out anyway, the word tripping and rolling through his throat. ‘Traumatised. She is not entirely happy with my bond.’

  ‘She’s human. They have different rules about these things. Give her time.’

  ‘I will give her until the universe is cold and black if she will just let me be by her side.’ Daris let out a heavy breath.

  ‘I hate seeing you troubled, my friend.’

  ‘This did not go the way I expected,’ Daris admitted. ‘I always thought my mate would accept me wholeheartedly. I never expected the possibility of…’

  ‘I am not used to seeing you look defeated, Daris. It does not look good on you. The only one you couldn’t triumph over in the pit was Edan, and you never let that get you down.’

  ‘I let him win.’ Daris waved his hand dismissively.

  ‘You’re a vrokking liar and you know it, Harvalen!’

  Daris chuckled. It tapered into a long sigh. ‘How do you woo a human?’

  ‘Chocolate, according to my mate.’

  ‘I have that! I accidentally took some from the human ship!’

  ‘How do you accidentally steal from the human ship?’

  Daris smirked. ‘I’ll tell you next time I see you.’ A thought occurred to him. ‘We have spies?’

  Makios frowned. ‘What?’

  ‘Are you part of the Protectorate now?’

  ‘Ah!’ Makios smiled. ‘Tessa is my home. I’m not Protectorate, b
ut I am a Tessan. If this goes well, maybe you will be too soon.’

  ‘Settling down in a new world?’

  ‘A world of opportunity, my friend. And not the criminal kind!’ Makios added quickly.

  ‘Not the criminal kind,’ Daris agreed.

  ‘Go get some rest with your female. Hopefully, by the time you wake up, we’ll have Tolomus and the crew.’

  ‘I will. What happened to the ship?’

  ‘Thanesh has sent a ship to the place it should have been. They’re going to do a search of the area and are hoping it’s still there and intact.’

  ‘Any news on the human my female told you about? The one with the data packet?’

  ‘Not so far,’ Makios sighed. ‘There was a rendezvous point she should have been at by now, but she hasn’t arrived. We’re searching, checking nearby planets and moons within her jump radius but without knowing the actual location of the ship, its going to prove difficult. We could be looking for solars, and if her ship was destroyed, it’s a fool's errand, as my Rhona says.’

  ‘Keep us up to date.’

  ‘Of course,’ Makios agreed.

  When the screen had gone back to stars, Daris stared at them for a while longer. Whoever this human was, Daris hoped she was safe and on her way to the Tessans. Finally, he walked across the room, undressed, and slipped into bed next to his mate.

  The stars cascaded across the nectar glow of her skin, giving her an almost ethereal look. Daris knew it was his mind flooding with bonding hormones and increasing his adoration of his mate, he didn’t care. She was perfect. He would have chosen her had he been given a choice. They were two of a kind, damaged, but if she let him, he would heal her wounds and help her discover who she truly was. His hand had crossed the space to caress her cheek before he realised what he was doing. It hovered there, over her skin until he withdrew it, unsure if his touch was welcome.

  He lay in the dark, watching her until sleep overcame him.

  Zoe lay in a hazy glow of sleep long after she woke up. Even when the memories returned, even though she could feel the depression on the mattress to her side, she stayed in that state pretending the world didn’t exist outside of her closed lids.